Ralph Nader once said “Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you.”

Deschutes Public Library invites you to “turn on” during the Know Politics series throughout the month of October. In the run-up to the November general election, local experts and visiting scholars will lead discussions about some of the hot issues facing American voters and the League of Women Voters will host candidate forums and ballot measure discussions all as part of the series.

All programs are free and open to the public.

Programs

Know Politics: League of Women Voters Forums
Non-partisan forums focusing on the candidates and ballot initiatives included on the November general election ballot.

Know Politics: Ed Kennedy’s War: V-E Day, Censorship & the Associated Press
On V-E Day, May 7, 1945, Associated Press (AP) reporter Ed Kennedy became the most famous—or infamous—American correspondent of World War II by breaking the news of the Allied victory in defiance of a military order that American journalist were to remain silent. Julia Kennedy Cochran edited her father’s memoirs, and wrote the prologue and epilogue to the book, adding a personal context to Ed Kennedy’s narrative of his long journalistic career.

Know Politics: The Voters Have Spoken: Oregon’s Controversial Ballot Initiatives
Jackson Miller of Linfield College discusses how Oregonians participate in the political ritual of voting on citizen initiatives with more frequency and, at times, more enthusiasm than any other group of citizens in the United States. Over the past century, Oregon has had more statewide citizen-generated measures on its ballots than any other state, and, as a result, “direct democracy” has dramatically transformed the state’s political and social landscape. Sponsored by Oregon Humanities.

Know Politics: Broccoli, Marijuana, and Commerce: FDR's Constitution, or Ayn Rand's?
Do you subscribe to Keynesian or Laissez Faire economic theory? Does FDR's New Deal or Ayn Rand’s vision appeal to you? OSU-Cascades Political Science professor James Foster examines the controversy that continues to swirl around the appropriate role for government in managing/regulating the American economy.

Know Politics: The “U” Word: A Historical and Political Look at Reproductive Rights in the U.S.
Professor Jamie Bufalino from the University of Oregon explores the “war on women,” one of several hot-button topics in the 2012 election. Intimately tied to the current debate over government-sponsored health care, the rhetoric and policies surrounding women’s reproductive freedoms place women’s bodies at ground zero of the political debate. This talk will explore history and place current rhetoric regarding reproductive rights within the context of larger social, political, and economic trends.